Trunk-follower



E. B. LINNETT.

TRUNK FOLLOWER.

APPLICATION man MAR. 20, 1917.

Patented Nov. 9, 1920.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2- v INVENTOR;

Ma (y M WITNESS LX ZK UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

EDGAR B. LINNE'IT, 0F NEWARK, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO LINNETT & SCHWARZ, OF IRVINGTON, NEW JERSEY, A FIRM COMPOSED OF EDGAR B, LINNE AND JACOB W. SCHWABZ.

TRUNK-FOLLOWER.

Application filed March 20, 1917.

T 0 all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, EDGAR B. LINNE'IT, a citizen of the United States of America, and a resident of Newark, in the county of Essex and State of New Jersey, have invented certain Improvements in Trunk-Followers, of which the following is a specification.

The objects of this invention are to provide an improved trunk follower which can be sprung into or out of the trunk; to provide a follower which is rigid in the direction in which the contents of the trunk press; to provide for releasing the follower reslliently in a direction flatwise of the follower or transverse to the direction in which the contents of the trunk press; to accommodate different thicknesses of contents of the trunk, both for the entire compartment or at either end of the compartment; to obviate looseness and rattling, and the annoyance of a multiplicity of fastenings; to securea simple, convenient and strong construction, and to obtain other advantages and results as may be brought out in the following description.

Referring to the accompanying drawings, in which like numerals of reference indicate the same parts throughout the several views,

Figure 1 is a view of the inside of an open wardrobe trunk showing my improved trunk follower mounted therein;

Fig. .2 is a perspective view of the trunk follower;

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of upper and lower brackets by which the follower is mounted in a trunk; V

F igl 4 is a perspective view of a modified form of follower, and

Fig. 5 is a perspective view of brackets therefor. V

In the specific embodiment of the invention illustrated in said drawings, the reference numeral 1 indicates a trunk having hinged sections 2, 3 one of which, as 3, provides a vcompartment 4: having a suitable gate hanger 5 at its upper part adapted to supportgarments 6 by means of garment hangers 7 all as is customary and .wellknown in the art. In order to hold the garments spread out smoothly and retained in their places, a trunk follower 8 is provided which is .placed in the trunk section after the garments are all packed in, said follower being arranged and adapted to Specification of Letters Patent,

Patented Nov. 9, 1920.

Serial No. 155,995.

press the garments toward the back wall of the compartment and thus prevent their shifting around and becoming wrinkled or disarranged.

This trunk follower, in which the present invention inheres more particularly, preferably provides two transverse end members or headers 9, 9 both extending in the same general direction and of a length substantially equal to the width of the trunk compartment. These headers 9, 9 are arranged in a common plane, and are preferably constructed from strips of resilient strip metal positioned edgewise in said plane. The metal is furthermore of such weight and quality that the arms may be sprung resiliently with respect to each other by pressing on the same, but because of the greater dimension of the metal perpendicular to the said plane of the headers they can not be bent readily out of said plane.

The said headers 9, 9 are held apart in proper relation by any suitable arrangement of connecting members or braces 10, 11. As shown, these braces comprise a pair of outer ones 10, 10, secured at their end portions to the corresponding end portions of the arms 9, as by rivets 12, the connected ends of the said headers and braces extending in the same direction fiatwise together and the braces curling back from said ends in the plane of the headers each toward the other header in the shape of a shallow U. As may be seen in the drawings, there is preferably one of these U-shaped braces 10 at each side of the follower, connecting the correspondng ends of the headers, the braces being arranged with the back or closed portion of one toward the back of the other but separated from each other. The ends of the U-shaped braces preferably terminate substantially even with the ends of the headers 9, 9, as shown, to secure more substantial arms for the follower as hereinafter described, but it will be understood that the ends of the U-shaped braces do not have to U-shaped braces Preferably, for convenience in manufacture, this midle brace 11 is made in two sections each comprising substantially half of the brace and having their ends butting on a line parallel to and midway between the headers 9, 9. All said parts are suitably held together, as by rivets 13, and preferably one rivet is positioned at the butting ends of the sections of the middle brace so as to hold both sections. Other rivets 141 through the sections of the middle brace and the outer braces secure the parts very positively and prevent warping of the follower, while rivets 15 through the inner brace and the headers 9, 9 secure those parts to ether.

ireferably, both the inner and outerbraces are made of the same material as the headers 9, 9, that is to say, of resilient bar or strip metal, and said material of the braces is preferably positioned similar to that of the headers, that is to say, edgewise of the plane of the follower, or with its greater dimension perpendicular to said plane. By this means, theentire follower is rigid in a direction transverse to its plane, but will spring or give more or less in its plane.

y arrangement or form of bracing, other than the U-shaped braces 10 and oval middle brace 11, as shown and described, may be employed which is suitable to the purpose and will attain in some degree the objects of my invention.

It is to be noted that by my improved constructlon, the headers 9, 9 are held in a common plane at a distance from each other,

and thefollower provides a plurality of laterally projecting arms 16. Preferably there are four of these arms, one at each corner, which are adapted to resiliently engage means upon the side walls of the come I partment of the trunk so as to detachably hold the follower in place. This engagement 'pendicular to the front or may be effected in various ways, but I prefer to have the headers 9, 9 bowed or curved apart, when the follower is out of the trunk, as shown in Fig. 2, so that they can be pressed toward each other to engage socketed brackets 17 on the side walls of the compartment. Preferably the follower is mserted into the trunk with the headers 9, 9, transverse to the height thereof, or in substantially horizontal position, and there "are a pair of brackets, upper and lower, on each side wall of the compartment. These brackets are all similar, preferably comprislng a strip of metal having its ends olfset to provide feet 18, 18 to be fastened to the trunk wall and hold the middle or body portlon 19 of the bracket spaced therefrom.

Along one edge-of the body portion 19 are cut a plurality of sockets 20 each adaptthe bracket, and the brackets are secured in the trunk on the side walls peropen side, the

sockets in the upper and lower brackets on each wall preferably facing each other. The arms of the header at one end of the follower may then be seatedin the sockets of the lower brackets and the arms ofthe upper header resiliently pressed downward and swung in under the upper brackets, so as to seat in' sockets thereof when released. 'By virtue of the plurality of sockets in the brackets, the follower may be positioned near the front, middle or rear of the com partment, wherever required, or the upper end may be near the front and the lower end near the rear of the compartment'or vice versa.

Obviously the headers of the follower might be normally curved apart, as shown in Fig. 4:, and upper and lower brackets 21 provided upon the compartment walls, which have their edges oppositely away from eachother recessed as shown in Fig. 5, so that in removing and inserting the follower it is necessary to spring the headers apart instead of toward each other as has just been described. Obviously the follower can be retained in either way, and I do not wish to be understood as limiting myselfto any particular resilient engagement of the follower with the side walls of the compartment which might occur to any one skilled in the art.

It should be particularly noted that, in operation, the resiliency of the arms 16 holds the same seated in the sockets of the brackets, but does not have to counteract or resist in any measure the outward push of the garments packed behind, since such outward push of the contents of the compartment is transmitted through the follower against the sides of the sockets. At the same time, the resiliency of the arms is such that they may be readily sprungwhen it is desired to insert or remove the follower.-

' Preferably the extreme ends ofthe arms of the carrier are bent to form lips 22 which will hook into the sockets of the brackets a little more positively, and furthermore, the ends of the arms are preferably inclosed in sleeves 23, of rubber or the like, to secure additional finish and prevent rattling and wear. Other details and detail modifications may be embodied in or omitted from my improved device without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention, and I do not wish to be understood as limiting myself except as required by the following claims when construed in'the light of the prior art. I 7

Having thus described the invention, what I claim is: V

1. A trunk follower comprising opposite transverse resilient strips. forming headers, and longitudinal curved brace strips extending between said headers intermediate the ends thereof, both said headers and brace strips being resilient in the plane of the hanger and tending to seat the ends of said headers when the follower is in a trunk.

2. A trunk follower having opposite transverse resilient strips forming headers, and longitudinally extending strips curved at their ends and secured to said headers, both said headers and braces being resilient in the plane of the follower and tending to seat the headers when the follower is in a trunk.

3. A trunk follower havingopposite transverse resilient strips forming headers and longitudinally extending strips curved at their ends and secured to said headers and each other, both said headers and braces being resilient in the plane of the follower and tending to seat the headers when the follower is in a trunk.

4. A trunk follower having opposite headers of resilient strip metal arranged edgewise in substantially the same plane, braces also of resilient strip metal similarly arranged connecting said headers in spaced relation while permitting them to be sprung with respect to each other, and means for the walls of the trunk into which the said headers may be sprung to retain the follower in a desired plane.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscrib- 

